This is a quirky little story that manages to stay grounded in real life thanks largely to the adorable Keri Russell. Known for her work on the television series Felicity (people still believe that the show would have become an even bigger hit had she not cut her hair) and Mission: Impossible III, this is her first big star vehicle. She has that rare quality of being sexy enough to be attractive to guys of all ages, yet cute enough that women still like her. She's so good in this movie that I now believe she's got a shot to be her generation's Meg Ryan or Sandra Bullock.

Similar in tone to Mike White's The Good Girl (with Jennifer Anniston and Jake Gyllenhaal), Waitress feature Russell as Jenna, a waitress and the primary pie maker at Joe's Pie Diner in some unnamed small Southern town. Her pies are delicious and have unusual names. There are pies like "I Hate My Huband Pie," "Falling In Love Pie," "Bad Baby Pie" and "Naughty Pumpkin Pie." Whenever she's angry or unhappy or depressed, she invents a pie recipe to express her mood -- and she makes lots and lots of pies. Jenna is also unhappily married to Earl (Jeremy Sisto), an extremely controlling and often abusive husband. She's been saving money so that she can run away, but then she gets pregnant with Earl's child. It turns out she had been drinking and Jenna explains, "When I get drunk, I do stupid things, like sleep with my husband."

Now she feels stuck. Her support system includes two fellow waitresses, the meek and insecure Dawn (Shelly) and the sassy Becky, played by Curb Your Enthusiasm's Cheryl Hines (her performance feels a little too much like Flo on the '70s series Alice ... always on the verge of caricature). Then there's Joe (Andy Griffith), the cantankerous owner of the restaurant, who serves up spoonfuls of folksy, southern wisdom. Griffith is a stand-out here. He's still got that Mayberry charm, even at 81, and even while playing a crusty old fart like Joe. If Fox Searchlight is smart, they'll launch an Oscar campaign for this octogenarian, because he could certainly squeeze into one of the five supporting actor slots.

So anyway, Jenna's world is turned upside down -- not just because of the pregnancy, but also because her obstetrician shows more than a passing interest in her. Dr. Pomatter is played by Nathan Fillion, best-known for his work in Joss Whedon projects, like television series Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Firefly, and feature film Serenity. The Doc is not exactly a smooth operator. In fact, he's "all thumbs." Somehow, through the stuttering and stammering, an affair begins despite that fact that both of them are married.

I was particularly struck by some of the dialogue. It's beautifully written and not so clever that it feels hokey. At one point, Griffith as Joe describes the perfection in a slice of Jenna's strawberry chocolate pie. In another great moment, Jenna asks her boss, Cal (Lew Temple), if he's happy, and he responds that he's "happy enough." In writing a note to her soon-to-be-born baby, she says, "Dear Baby, I hope someday somebody wants to hold you for 20 minutes straight. All they do is wrap you up in their arms without an ounce of selfishness to it."

There's a melancholy sweetness to Shelly's script that prevents the movie from feeling too much like a TV sitcom. It's obvious enough where the story is headed.  Events conspire to help Jenna understand that she is special and unique and that she deserves more. And she falls head-over-heels in love ... though not with the person you expect (or at least not entirely with that person). In a final irony, Shelly's real-life baby daughter Sophie appears in the final scene of the movie toddling hand-in-hand with Russell as Jenna. We will never know what films Adrienne Shelly would have gone on to make, but she left one sweet, unassuming, humble slice of art behind for Sophie ... and for the rest of us.

FantasyMoguls.com Lowdown on Waitress
Original FantasyMoguls.com Projections for Waitress were for a 7.1 IMDb User Rating and $20.5 million in total domestic box office. Steve Mason’s revised projections based on seeing the film and reviewing its updated release plan are as follows:
Box Office: $25.7 million
IMDb User Rating: 7.7
Top 5: 0 points
PTA: 6 points